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A Triple #EduWin Week: Voice Comments, iPad Prize and Video Finalist

It has been an amazing week for me in ed tech and I wanted to share some of that awesome. Many of you have been along for the ride via Twitter, Google+ and Facebook. I appreciate all the support and fun. Here's a recap.

On Monday afternoon I was skimming Twitter at lunch when I saw something about adding voice comments to a Google Doc. Excited I found out more, experimented with it a bit, and then produced this short tutorial video about how to do it. Within 24 hours almost 1,000 people had watched it, as I write this the views are over 3,500 which boggles my mind. This morning my friend Catlin Tucker tweeted her great post about voice comments with step by step screen shots, which might be more helpful for some people.

Later Monday afternoon, I participated in a Twitter chat sponsored by WeAreTeachers about paperless classrooms. I shared photos and videos of my paperless classroom, as well as strategies I use to reduce and recycle resources. At the conclusion of the chat I was amazed to be selected the winner of a new iPad! Most Twitter chats, don't come with prizes and this was new for me, but very exciting. You should check out their site because they do have great resources an a wonderful page about grants and contests.

Thursday morning I got to do a Google Hangout with someteachers who are also using voice comments. We talked about challenges related to giving students writing feedback and possibilities for using voice commenting tools beyond just feedback. This Google Hangout was live and you can watch the recorded version on YouTube here.

Thursday afternoon I got the word that I was a finalist in a video contest about technology in the classroom put on by the University of San Diego Department of Teaching and Learning. The winning video will be determined by the number of "likes" each video gets on the department Facebook page. if you are a regular reader of this blog, or if you have gotten any use at all out of anything I have shared ever (including the video above) I would really appreciate your "like" on my video.

Scroll down to Video Finalist #5: Jen Roberts'Classroom in the Cloud, and click the "like" button under my video.

Watching the video is also fabulous and comments are welcome. Several people have asked about sharing the video further with their own staffs and I fully approve that plan.

(I will embed the video here after the contest, but for now please go watch it and like it on the FB page.)

This weekend it is back to reality. I have grades due next week, so I will spend the weekend reading student essays in Google Docs while making voice comments on many of course, reviewing student book reviews in GoodReads and preparing mini-lesson for our expert project research days next week. In other words, pretty much everything I said I do in my Classroom in the Cloud Video.

Up next...

SAMR, developed by Ruben Puentedura, is one model for examining the evolution of tech integration in classrooms. It focuses on the type of work students are doing and how much that work deviates from traditional classroom practices. In a sense, it measures the future against the past. This four minute video is great if you would like to hear him explain it in his own words.

I like the SAMR model and I think it does what models are supposed to do, it get us talking and thinking about the work going on in our classrooms. This graphic shows the progression of a teacher's thinking with a bit of humor too.

As a model though, I think SAMR has some issues we need to talk and think about more. This is my list of concerns.

For further exploration:

It privileges the modification and redefinition stages such that good teaching without tech is marginalized. Even after five years of 1:1 I still have a few fabulous lessons that just work better on paper. They are worth keeping even if they do n…

Considering National Boards? I recommend the process, but you should know what you are getting into. Start early and get organized.

In the spring of 2016 I began pursuing National Board Certification for teaching. I know eventually someone will ask me for my thoughts and advice about that process, so I'll capture them now while the experience is fresh. Because I teach 9th grade, and previously taught middle school for ten years, I decided to do my NBCT in the area of Young Adolescent ELA. (Yes, I also taught 11th grade for six years, but that was a while ago.)

Though some do it in one year, I'm taking two years to complete my NBCT. Last summer, at a small local conference, I stumbled into a conversation about National Boards and happened to find out that my County Office of Education sponsored a support program. I was just in time to sign up. Through that program I got early advice and support to help me understand expectations and deadlines. The amazing staff at the County O…

It happens to all of us sometimes. Your perfectly planned lesson goes just a bit faster than you expected and you have a few minutes left at the end of class. Or maybe your students have been showing some excellent focus on their projects and you want to give them a few minutes of fun. My students have to put their laptops in a cart at the end of class and that takes a few minutes. For whatever reason it's good to have a few things you can pull up fast and engage students with for those last few minutes. These are some of my favorites. Share your's in the comments.

GeoGuesser:https://geoguessr.com/
This site drops you at a spot in the world and you have to guess where you are. It's good for a quick lesson in observing details. It's funny how often it seems like the picture seems to be from one place, but it really a whole different continent. I'll have one student come up to play, but the whole class loves to watch and make suggestions. Pro tip, teach them they can…